Monday, October 23, 2006 Peñalosa springs surprise, KOs foe
FORMER WBC superflyweight champion Gerry Peñalosa created a stir when he knocked out WBO No.1 bantamweight challenger Mauricio Martinez of Colon, Panama in the ninth round at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas in US yesterday.
The 10-round bout showed a hungry Peñalosa, who decked the Panamanian thrice.
The Cebu City-bred fighter is now under the tutelage of Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, California.
The fight, an undercard of the WBO superbantamweight champion Daniel Ponce De Leon’s bout, is Peñalosa’s debut as a Golden Boy Promotions fighter.
In what US boxing writers described as an upset, the win was totally impressive for the Peñalosa, who put down the former WBO bantamweight champion Martinez on the canvass in the first round.
However, Peñalosa hurt his hands in that round, forcing him to pace a bit before putting down Martinez once more in the fourth round.
Oozing with confidence, the 34-year-old southpaw finally ended Martinez’s misery at the 1:06 mark of the ninth round, to improve his ring record to 51-5-2, 34KOs, while dropping Martinez’s to 31-7-1, 21KOs.
Peñalosa is now lined-up to challenge Johnny Gonzales of Mexico for the WBO bantamweight title. Oscar De La Hoya, though, had promised him for another fight early next year.
Meanwhile, De Leon successfully defended his WBO Super-bantamweight title, following an eight round TKO win at the 1:43 mark over challenger Al Seeger.
Antonio Escalante also pulled a second round knockout over Omar Adorno to keep his WBO NABO title while Juan Lazcano scored a controversial split decision win over Manuel Garnica after 10 rounds. (RCM)
